Erin Piacenti: Bank of America VP Killed in Times Square Knife Attack Was New Mom Who Had Just Resumed Work after Maternity Leave

The Ivy League-educated banker who was stabbed to death in Times Square was a new mother who had recently celebrated her baby’s baptism before returning to work after maternity leave, according to posts shared online.

Erin Piacenti, 32, of Chester, New Jersey, was on her way home from work Monday when she stopped briefly at a street vendor selling sunglasses and baseball caps, The New York Times reported. It was during that brief stop that Piacenti was chased before being stabbed to death in the stomach by 49-year-old Pamela Cisneros Lopez. Moments earlier, Lopez had also seriously injured a 68-year-old man before police shot and killed her during a standoff.

Innocent Life Lost

Piacenti’s LinkedIn profile lists her as a vice president at Bank of America, where she worked in business selection and conflicts. The 32-year-old had only been back at work for her first week after maternity leave when she was killed, The Times reported.

Piacenti had welcomed her daughter just five months earlier, according to a woman who told The Times she was Piacenti’s grandmother-in-law. She remembered the young executive as a “beautiful, beautiful girl.”

Just four days before her death, Piacenti shared a photo on social media showing her with her newborn daughter and husband, Frank.

In another post, she reflected on how thankful she was to have spent the previous five months at home on maternity leave. She also shared that her daughter had been baptized, while she and Frank marked their second wedding anniversary.

Piacenti and her husband both graduated from Fordham Law School in 2021 and married in August 2024.

News of the young mother’s death has left the Chester community struggling to come to terms with the sudden tragedy. “This definitely shakes us up,” local resident Megan O’Hara said.

O’Hara said the incident has also made some residents more uncomfortable about traveling into New York City, where many people from the area commute for work. “It feels close to home,” she said. “It’s like a family member passed away.”

Shocking Moment

Video captured at the scene showed police confronting Lopez, a Queens resident, as she brandished two kitchen knives. Officers initially used a Taser before opening fire. Lopez was hit by police gunfire and collapsed to the ground. Officers then handcuffed her and provided first aid.

Police said that shortly before the video was recorded, Lopez pulled two knives from a shopping bag and attacked Kam as he waited to cross the street with his wife.

She then allegedly turned on Piacenti, stabbing her in the abdomen. Piacenti later died from her injuries.

Lopez then allegedly attacked Piacenti, stabbing her in the abdomen. Piacenti later died from her injuries.

Speaking alongside Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Lopez refused to surrender her weapons during the tense confrontation with officers.

According to Tisch, Lopez told police: “I’m not dropping anything, I would rather kill both of you.”

Tisch said the standoff unfolded in one of the busiest parts of New York City, where large numbers of people are constantly passing through Times Square.

“This was an extraordinarily dangerous situation unfolding in the heart of Times Square, the crossroads of the world,” she said.

“At any given moment, there are thousands of New Yorkers, commuters, tourists, families, workers moving through these streets.”

The commissioner also revealed that Lopez was known to the NYPD and had a “documented mental health history.” She had been involved in two incidents with the department, one in 2018 and another in 2019, although neither resulted in an arrest.

Mamdani and Tisch both credited the responding officers with quickly bringing the dangerous situation to an end, saying their intervention likely prevented the violence from claiming more victims.

The episode was initially treated as a knifepoint robbery, but investigators now believe Lopez may have been emotionally disturbed and have not identified a specific reason for the attacks, ABC 7 reported.

Hassan Abdallah, who runs a fruit cart near the corner of 41st Street and Seventh Avenue, said he saw the aftermath from about two blocks away.

He recalled hearing a woman scream before crowds suddenly began fleeing the area.

“I heard a lady screaming and then people were running like crazy,” Abdallah said. “I went outside [the cart]. I saw an old guy, like 60, Asian. He was standing, holding his back. He got stabbed.”

Abdallah said the man’s wife appeared to be trying to help him while waiting for police to arrive. She initially used a book or pieces of paper to put pressure on the wound before someone handed her a scarf.

Police are continuing to investigate the attack. Tisch said investigators have found no indication that the incident was terrorism-related.